Category: Holiday Traditions

I woke up with the same sore throat I’ve had since Thursday. To be fair, it felt better than tiny incense sticks pricking me at each swallow. The boys were watching cartoons while Lyndon set up the table with Wonder Bagels, balloons, and twin Sesame Street wrapped packages. Both dresses – both beautiful. Pink and […]

I’ll be honest – I wasn’t thrilled to join in on the Opening Day festivities. I don’t care about baseball. It’s a long game and it doesn’t hold my attention. But after today, I’m thinking maybe my perspective was all wrong. Maybe baseball games aren’t actually about the ball and the bat and the intermittent […]

I sent both my kids to school with no valentines this morning. I showed up frizzy haired to a room full of decorated shoeboxes posing as mailboxes and walked out thinking, “Was I supposed to do something for that today?” Of course I immediately went into you’re-such-a-loser mode and drove my unshowered self over to […]

Today, perhaps more than previous years, (although I’m not sure if that’s true), our relationship with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and his story comes front and center. And just because we don’t know what to say, or don’t know how to say it, doesn’t mean we shouldn’t try. It’s easy to simply King into […]

Yippeeeee! The most wonderful time of the year has finally come to an end and I just dropped off two kids at two schools for the next six hours. Blessed be the teachers for taking over from here. I have to admit, I did have one tiny moment where a small lump appeared in my […]

Tonight we headed to the Turtle Back Zoo for their annual Holiday Lights Spectacular. In short, our experience was true to title – spectacular. And tomorrow’s the last night! If you can, you should. They’re open from 5-9.

Last night we said goodbye to Bixyquick (Are we early? It takes a long time to get to the North Pole from here!), our beloved cookie-loving, crumb-creating elf on a shelf. Later, loser. (Don’t say that.) I have to admit, Bixyquick was a little on the lazy side. He didn’t fly around every night, creating […]

Christmas is pierogi. My mother made hundreds every year. As a child I watched her standing at the counter, flour spilling onto the floor. In my teenage years I helped, mostly milling around, making a fuss, and waiting for the taste-test. We brought dozens of them, wrapped in foil, to Ray & Elaine’s on Christmas […]

There’s something magical about a community tree-lighting. (Or, in the case of Jersey City, a Holiday Lighting. We see your tree and we raise you one menorah.) The event takes an over-shopped and/or religious ritual and flips it into a few hours of goodwill for all, song, and festival. It’s one of those rare moments […]